Bloodlines and Ramen
by mellra
Summary: These are my takes on the 'Naruto gets a bloodline' challenge. Please look inside and see if anything interests you!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **So here's a challenge with my take on 'Naruto awakening a bloodline challenge.' Most have him awaken a dojutsu like the Sharingan or the Rinnegan. I'm here to do a new take on one that has been done before, but has never been thoroughly explored. My idea is this: Naruto was walking home shortly before joining the Academy when a drunk happened upon him. As fate would have it, the Anbu guards watching him were in the middle of switching shifts, so no one was watching at the time. The drunk, who was angry about the Kyuubi attack, starts attacking Naruto. It is during this time that Naruto, in a time of need, unlocks a bloodline that came from one of his ancestors. Naruto unlocks the Explosion Release (Bakuton) bloodline that came from his father's line during the warring clans era. The abilities had been so diluted over time that it was all but lost until Naruto, who had a mix of the right dominant/recessive genes plus the Kyuubi to unlock it. After nearly blowing the drunkard up, Hiruzen then looks for potential teachers who could teach Naruto how to use his new bloodline without either killing himself or wiping out the village. As luck would have it, this occurred shortly after Deidara (age 11) just stole the kinjutsu scroll and became a missing-nin but before he became a world renowned terrorist.  
The Third sends Kakashi to retrieve the blond bomber and offer a deal for him to become Naruto's tutor and in turn be offered amnesty in Konoha from Iwa. He agrees (namely because he gets to teach someone else his 'art') and due to the fact that Deidara knows the kinjutsu and Naruto has the Bakuton, Naruto gets the mouths and with Kurama's help his explosions are on atomic/Tailed Beast Bomb level. When canon arrives he's still on team 7 except he's not a dead last and Deidara will either be in Anbu or on deep cover missions so his presence won't drastically change pre-Shippuden other than he won't be a member of Akatsuki (maybe he can be replaced by a movie villian or something). Pairings should be Naru/Hina but that's up to the author. Naruto also slightly dresses like Deidara except he wears gloves when in public to not freak people out. His behavior shouldn't be too drastically changed but he does see explosions more as 'art' and uses 'Believe it' more like Deidara uses hm. Finally, there should be a funny scene were Naruto tries to eat ramen with his hand mouths with hilarious results!

**Village Hidden in the Leaves (Konoha)**

A distraught eight-year old Naruto headed back towards his apartment while trying to beat the approaching night. It had been a bad day for the whiskered blond, though that was close to every day unfortunately. He'd spent most of the day at the park, trying to find someone who'd at least talk to him. But most of the kids either flat out ignored him or hurl out insults to him. The real sad part most of those who yelled at him were the adults. It was a few months until he'd be enrolled into the Ninja Academy, yet with how things were going for him Naruto couldn't help but wonder if he'd be treated any differently than how he was now. If only something could happen that'd change his life for the better…

Little did Naruto know that tiny changes in one's destiny can bring monumental changes. In one world, the one we all know, Naruto went home for the evening with no problems whatsoever. In this one though, things took a different turn. Naruto decided to head down an alleyway to take a shortcut home. Unknown to the blond, this particular alleyway went behind a bar, where a certain nasty drunk had just been thrown out of. Also unknown to the boy was the Anbu guards who watched over him every hour of the day to make sure no one said or do anything to the jinchuriki that they'd regret, were switching shifts at the moment and for approximately five minutes no one was watching over him.

Naruto went down the alleyway, ignoring the rats and occasional stray dog that littered the area as he kept his head down. So caught up in his gloom, Naruto didn't see the large, smelly man in the middle of the path until he lightly brushed up against him. The drunk, who shall remain nameless, was about to yell at whoever it was that ran into him. That was, until he saw that it was the demon holder, the one who held the same fox that destroyed his home and business that day eight years ago. Now if the man was sober, he'd simply yell at the kid and stalk off before his anger made him do something that was sure to get him arrested or worse. But in his inebriated state, the drunk didn't think about nor care for the consequences for his actions and sent a vicious kick at Naruto's unprotected ribs.

The blond child gave a startled yelp in surprise, pain, and fear. He landed in a nearby puddle with a splash and he looked up at his attacker with wide, scared eyes. While most adults had made it clear they didn't want anything to do with him, and some seemed to downright hate him, no one had ever gone as far as to physically attack him before. Naruto found the experience to be especially terrifying.

"Stupid demon brat," the drunk slurred as he stalked towards the blond and raise his leg for another kick, "the Hokage shoulda killed you the second you were born!"

With that, the kick connected with Naruto's chin and he saw stars as a razor sharp pain made itself known. The whiskered child tasted blood as his lip split. Whimpering in pain, not even able to cry out due to the pain in his face and bruised ribs, Naruto curled up into a ball in the dirty puddle water to try and make a smaller target of himself. Instead of backing off, the drunk seemed to get angrier at, in his mind, the demon's attempt at playing innocent and proceeded to ruthlessly kick the child in any place he could reach. Naruto gasped in pain and fear as the assault continued, screwing his eyes shut in a feeble attempt to block out the pain. Unknown to either people, Naruto started to subconsciously pull on his chakra in his panicked state.

Being his first time calling on his chakra, it was still raw and untapped. This, along with the fear-induced adrenaline coursing through his veins, caused him to pull his chakra from deep inside, tapping into genes that had previously been dormant and would have stayed that way if not for this one incident. The chakra started to build up in his hands and Naruto, not knowing what the feeling was, acted on instinct. When the drunk went in for another kick, Naruto reached his hand out and grabbed onto the man's pant leg. The built up chakra was released and the results were explosive.

**BOOM!**

**Scene Break**

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, stood outside of a hospital room door with a gloomy expression on his face. Yesterday evening, a large explosion had rocked the back alleyways of the Hidden Leaf. When the Anbu arrived on the scene, there were two figures taken from the area. One was a battered and burnt man who seemed to receive the full brunt of the explosion. Multiple burns and breaks littered the man's body and it was unlikely he'd be able to use the one leg again. It was the other person that concerned the aged Hokage however. Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, was found at the scene unconscious but surprisingly alright besides a few scrapes and bruises. When he asked the boy's Anbu guards, they explained that they were currently switching shifts for the night and that had created a blind spot for a few minutes, so they were unable to see or prevent what happened. That was a serious mistake that Hiruzen planned on correcting, but first he had to deal with more pressing matters such as finding out exactly what happened.

The Third was brought out of his musings as a med-nin came up to him. The medic gave the aged leader their report on the victims. "The man was found with second and third degree burns covering nearly half of his body. It was clear from the extent of his injuries that he was at the focal point of the explosion. Blood test shows that his blood alcohol levels were way pass the recommended levels, as was confirmed by the nearby bar owner who reported to had earlier thrown the man out for drunken disorderly conduct," the medic explained.

Sarutobi nodded his head in both understanding and to urge the medic to move on. The medic cleared his throat as he looked at the other chart he had. "The boy was found to have bruising on his ribs and had a nasty cut on his chin, but both healed within the hour," the two looked at each other, both having an inkling as to what caused Naruto's miraculous recovery. The medic continued, "No other significant injuries were found. However, blood tests on the boy have indicated," at this the medic paused, which worried the Hokage.

"Indicated what?" Hiruzen asked in all seriousness.

The medic took a deep breath and looked the Professor straight in the eye. "The blood test show the unleashing of a previously recessive bloodline awakening, most likely brought on by the stress of whatever happened before the explosion. But that's not all, Lord Hokage," the medic said, catching the Hokage's attention since he was caught off guard from the news. As far as he knew, neither of Naruto's parents had bloodlines, however it wasn't unheard of for them to skip several generations and be unlocked under extreme situations. The med-nin continued in a serious tone, "We've compared the data of the bloodline to all known to us and we've only found one match. One we've obtained through the fighting of the Third Shinobi War. It would appear Naruto unlocked the Explosion Release bloodline."

If Hiruzen was stunned before, he was shocked speechless now. Of all the bloodlines Naruto had to inherit, why did it have to be one of the most famous (or infamous depending on your point of view) bloodlines of the Hidden Stone?! The Explosion Corps, a special group of Stone ninja who all have a version of the Explosion Release bloodline, were well known from their exploits and leaving trails of destruction in their wake both in and out of wars. This would complicate things immensely. While being a jinchuriki was in and of itself difficult to live with, having a bloodline famous from an enemy village was like pouring gasoline on a roaring flame! People would start to assume Naruto was a babe Minato took during his exploits in the Third War to use as a holder for the Nine Tails, or some other ridiculous notion to raise the already uneasy thoughts regarding the blond. Not to mention what the Hidden Stone would do if they ever found out! Naruto's life was already at risk with them due to his parentage, who knew what would happen if the Stone ninjas found one of their bloodlines was carried by the son of their most hated foe?!

The Third quickly grabbed his pipe from his robe and took a deep puff, the smoke help calming his panicking mind. He'd need to gain control of this situation and fast! First, he needed a cover story. Maybe an exposed gas line went off in the alley while the man's body shielded Naruto from the blast? Yes, that'd work. It would explain Naruto's lack of serious injury and the man was in no condition to contradict it, due to the explosion mixed in with his drunken state most likely hindering his memory. And if that didn't work, he could always 'persuade' the man to cooperate, because the Professor had an inkling on how the whole situation occurred and if the man didn't want to spend life in jail he'd say whatever the Hokage told him to!

The next thing to do was to comfort Naruto and let him know what happened. Hopefully, the old man could calm the boy and tell him in a way that would not upset him further, but also show him the severity of the situation. That led to the next problem: how to get Naruto to control his new bloodline? Whenever a bloodline is awakened, it's always necessary for the wielder to learn how to use it to avoid hurting themselves and others. It wouldn't work to have Naruto simply ignore the bloodline, because that could lead to severe physical and mental problems such as activating his abilities against his will.

What Hiruzen needed was a teacher for Naruto, but who? Asking the Hidden Stone was out, since they were still sore about the last war. And finding users of the Explosion Release was rare outside of the Stone Village. The best bet was to find a missing-nin who had the bloodline and convincing them to join the village. But as far as he knew, none of the known missing-nins had the bloodline! So what was he to do? This was a question that pestered Hiruzen through the rest of the day and into the night. When he returned to the office the next day, hoping to hear about improvements on Naruto's condition and hoping the hospital staff kept their vow of silence on the matter, the old Hokage sat at his desk nursing a building headache. There was then the fluttering of feathers, as the messenger hawk arrived to deliver the daily mail.

The Third looked at the pile of foreign mail and noticed right on top was the latest addition of the Bingo Book. Doubting his luck, Hiruzen flipped through the pages of the Elemental Nations most wanted until he reached the Stone Village's section. Page after page went by until, next to the last page, the Hokage struck gold. Praising everything that was holy, Hiruzen couldn't help but stare at the latest entry from the Hidden Stone Village that contained a picture of a blond boy not much older than Naruto:

**Name: **Deidara

**Age:** 11

**Previous Affiliation: **Hidden Stone Village

**Rank: **S

**Description: **Recruited into the Explosion Corps at a young age, Deidara possesses a powerful Explosion Release bloodline and was taught by the Third Tsuchikage himself. Has stolen a village kinjutsu and caused severe property damage in his defection. Has been known to make clay into living bombs.

**Threat Level: **Approach with extreme caution.

While the Third was thrilled by this discovery, a part of him felt uneasy about this. For one, while the boy was now considered a missing-nin, that didn't mean he'd willingly join an enemy village. Criminal or no, he could still be a patriot. Another thing was that the boy was taught by Oonoki himself, at that made it especially dangerous because any native to the Stone Village would be able to recognize Deidara, and another village harboring him could be seen as an act of war. Finally, there was no telling what affect the boy would have on Naruto.

'It must be done,' Hiruzen thought resolutely, 'for Naruto's sake as well as for the sake of the Village. The only question that remains is how to track him…?'

"Yo," a lazy voice sounded behind the old man, making the aged Kage smile as he turned to face the new arrival. "Kakashi Hatake reporting that Team 7 has failed the second Genin Exam once more," the one eyed jonin said as he stared at his leader listlessly.

"Ah Kakashi, I'm glad you're here. I've got a special assignment for you," the Third started as he began the younger man's debriefing.

**Scene Skip**

"Feh! Lousy art-hating sacks of crap! I'll show them all that true art is an explosion, hm! And then we'll see what's what, hm," a young man with long blond hair and piercing blue eyes mused as he sat on the stairway of an abandoned temple inside the Land of Grass's border.

He idly tossed a lump of clay up and down in his hand before a mouth in his palm suddenly opened up and chomped on it before spitting out a perfect clay spider. Deidara smirked. While implanting the kinjutsu that gave him the additional mouths on his palms and on his chest had hurt, it'd been worth the pain. Now he could complete "Art in a Single Moment" any time he wished by molding his chakra into clay and making more sculptures that would perform his "art." While it'd been a couple weeks since he left the Hidden Stone, Deidara was easily able to avoid his pursuers. After all, traveling by clay bird was much faster than walking!

The mad bomber was about to get up and leave when he heard a cough right behind him. Spinning around, the young man saw a tall man leaning in the door of the temple, idly leaning back. The man had long silver hair and a mask covering the bottom half of his face, but what caught the blond bomber's attention was the forehead protector with a leaf design tilted over his left eye.

Deidara sneered, "So the Leaf's dogs have caught onto me, hm? Okay then, you can be the first to experience my art! Katsu!" with a yell, Deidara held his hand into a symbol and suddenly, the clay insects that were surrounding the unsuspecting Leaf ninja detonated, sending a cloud of smoke into the air! The former Stone ninja laughed until he felt a presence behind him.

"Now that wasn't very nice," the man said in an almost bored tone, "And here I was just wanting to talk."

The bomber seethed, thinking this guy wasn't taking him seriously. Deidara got ready to unleash another bomb on the enemy shinobi when he suddenly felt a sharp jab on the back of his neck, causing everything to go black. When he woke up, Deidara found his arms tied tightly behind his back and his weapons pouches that held his clay, kunai, and shuriken were missing. Looking around, the missing-nin spot the Leaf shinobi sitting on a nearby log in a relaxed pose, reading a book of all things! The masked man looked up with his one eye at the restrained boy and said casually, "Oh good, you're up. Ready to talk now?"

Deidara spat out a string of profanities before slumping over to catch his breath. Once he regained his bearings the bomber looked back up at the silver haired man with an angry, but noticeably calmer expression on his face. "How'd you get the drop on me so easily?" he asked with venom in his voice.

"Simple," the man replied, "While you may be a prodigy and you may have a powerful new jutsu, you let your arrogance blind you. You thought you were unbeatable with your new power, and you completely disregarded the basics of being a ninja, which allowed me to subdue you with a simple Replacement Jutsu followed by a distraction with a Shadow Clone."

Deidara started for a moment before slumping in defeat. He'd allowed himself to be taken by surprise by basics? If the old goat could see him now, Deidara would never hear the end of it! "So what now?" the bomber asked tiredly, his tone defeated, "Are you going to take me back to the Hidden Stone? Or are you just going to kill me for your other Leaf buddies?"

Kakashi didn't immediately reply as he took out a kunai and walked over to the tied up boy. Closing his eyes, Deidara prepared for his end when suddenly he felt his bonds being cut off. Looking up at the silver haired jonin in surprise, Kakashi simply shrugged as he walked back over to his seat. "Like I said, I'm only here to talk," he said as he sat back down.

Deidara rubbed his wrists while looking at the man warily before sighing and saying, "Alright, talk."

The blond boy could have sworn he saw the man smile, even though his mouth was covered. The man began to talk and the more he heard, the greater Deidara's interest grew. Once the man, who Deidara learned was none other than _the _Kakashi Hatake, finished, the mad bomber was nearly alight with glee.

"So let me get this straight,hm," he began while looking at Kakashi intently for any sign of deceit, "I help you train this snot-nosed kid in mastering his newly awakened Explosion Release bloodline, and in turn you'll give me complete protection from the Hidden Stone, hm?"

"That's about the gist of it, yeah," Kakashi said with another one of his queer eye-smiles. "Plus you get clan benefits as the two of you would be the only ones in the village with your bloodlines such as getting your own compound and having a say on village issues. Of course, if you don't want to you're free to go."

Deidara thought about it for all of half a second. Complete protection from the Hidden Stone _and _being able to teach another about the beauty of art? Plus, if the old goat ever found out he'd join the Stone Village's most hated enemy, it'd probably push the Tsuchikage into a heart attack! His choice was immediately clear.

"Sign me up, hm!" Deidara said with a smile so wide, it almost looked like his extra mouths were smiling too. Things were definitely looking interesting, hm!

**Note: **I do not actually support the 'Naruto was beaten as a child' theory. For one, it's unrealistic that the Third would allow that and two, while Naruto was the source of scorn people still have hearts and I doubt large mobs would stoop to beating a four year old close to death repeatedly. I do sometimes read stories that have that just to read the plot surrounding that, but I'm not a supporter of the idea myself. That's why I hope I did Naruto's beating here in a believable way, where the attacker was drunk and the Anbu guards were switching shifts.

Now, as to why Kakashi defeated Deidara, the bomber always struck me as kind of cocky and I bet his pride was at an all-time high as soon as he defected. Also, he'd believe that with his new power, and that he was considered a prodigy back in Stone made him invincible. Think of it like when Kakashi first developed the Chidori and was nearly killed because he got cocky. I hope I made the fight believable for readers. Also, I'm not sure exactly when Deidara defected, but for the sake of the story it was when Naruto was about to enter the Academy, and since Deidara is 3 years older than Naruto that'd make him 11 at the time.

Again people, this is a challenge, **challenge, CHALLENGE! **Did I happen to mention this is a challenge? So if you're interested, please contact me via review or PM. Until then, enjoy this and my other works!


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **So here's a second challenge with my take on 'Naruto awakening a bloodline challenge.' The opening is slightly similar to my last challenge, but this is intentional. He unlocks the Hōzuki bloodline that was from his mother's side as one of his great grandparents was an Hōzuki. Similar idea to why he unlocked it except when the drunk attacks him he turns into water and the attack just passes right through him. Hiruzen decides to send Kakashi to Hidden Mist to see if there are any Hōzukis who'd be willing to come to Konoha to teach Naruto in how to control his bloodline. While there, the bloodline purges had recently started and Kakashi was only able to find two young boys (Suigetsu and Mangetsu) of the Hōzuki clan left.

Kakashi offers them a place in Konoha for their protection and they accept, since it was getting too dangerous in Kiri for them. The brothers act as dual tutors for Naruto in his bloodline and later they teach him kenjutsu, with some help/guidance from Hayate.  
During graduation he can still be a member of team 7 or you could replace one of his teammates with Suigetsu (Mangetsu is already a jonin at this point) and he's developed his own sword and style. For what type of sword Naruto can use, I was thinking along the lines of hook swords but that's up to the writer. Naruto will be similar to canon except more of a sword enthusiast and his attacks will be mostly water based but you should still keep the wind element as a secondary (Rasenshuriken is awesome). Same deal with pairings as the previous challenge and as an added bonus the author can have Sakura repeatedly try to brain Naruto but it'll only end up getting her wet, similar to Suigetsu and Karin.

**Village Hidden in the Leaves (Konoha)**

A distraught eight-year old Naruto headed back towards his apartment while trying to beat the approaching night. It had been a bad day for the whiskered blond, though that was close to every day unfortunately. He'd spent most of the day at the park, trying to find someone who'd at least talk to him. But most of the kids either flat out ignored him or hurl out insults to him. The real sad part most of those who yelled at him were the adults. It was a few months until he'd be enrolled into the Ninja Academy, yet with how things were going for him Naruto couldn't help but wonder if he'd be treated any differently than how he was now. If only something could happen that'd change his life for the better…

Little did Naruto know that tiny changes in one's destiny can bring monumental changes. In one world, the one we all know, Naruto went home for the evening with no problems whatsoever. In this one though, things took a different turn. Naruto decided to head down an alleyway to take a shortcut home. Unknown to the blond, this particular alleyway went behind a bar, where a certain nasty drunk had just been thrown out of. Also unknown to the boy was the Anbu guards who watched over him every hour of the day to make sure no one said or do anything to the jinchuriki that they'd regret, were switching shifts at the moment and for approximately five minutes no one was watching over him.

Naruto went down the alleyway, ignoring the rats and occasional stray dog that littered the area as he kept his head down. So caught up in his gloom, Naruto didn't see the large, smelly man in the middle of the path until he lightly brushed up against him. The drunk, who shall remain nameless, was about to yell at whoever it was that ran into him. That was, until he saw that it was the demon holder, the one who held the same fox that destroyed his home and business that day eight years ago. Now if the man was sober, he'd simply yell at the kid and stalk off before his anger made him do something that was sure to get him arrested or worse. But in his inebriated state, the drunk didn't think about nor care for the consequences for his actions and sent a vicious kick at Naruto's unprotected ribs.

The blond child gave a startled yelp in surprise, pain, and fear. He landed in a nearby puddle with a splash and he looked up at his attacker with wide, scared eyes. While most adults had made it clear they didn't want anything to do with him, and some seemed to downright hate him, no one had ever gone as far as to physically attack him before. Naruto found the experience to be especially terrifying.

"Stupid demon brat," the drunk slurred as he stalked towards the blond and raise his leg for another kick, "the Hokage shoulda killed you the second you were born!"

With that, the kick connected with Naruto's chin and he saw stars as a razor sharp pain made itself known. The whiskered child tasted blood as his lip split. Whimpering in pain, not even able to cry out due to the pain in his face and bruised ribs, Naruto curled up into a ball in the dirty puddle water to try and make a smaller target of himself. Instead of backing off, the drunk seemed to get angrier at, in his mind, the demon's attempt at playing innocent and proceeded to ruthlessly kick the child in any place he could reach. Naruto gasped in pain and fear as the assault continued, screwing his eyes shut in a feeble attempt to block out the pain. Unknown to either people, Naruto started to subconsciously pull on his chakra in his panicked state.

Being his first time calling on his chakra, it was still raw and untapped. This, along with the fear-induced adrenaline coursing through his veins, caused him to pull his chakra from deep inside, tapping into genes that had previously been dormant and would have stayed that way if not for this one incident. The man pulled up his leg for another powerful kick, but instead of hitting ribs the man's foot met water. Naruto's body distorted a bit as it went from a solid to a liquid and back, much to both of the alley's occupant's surprise. The man, thinking it was some sort of demon power and the boy was about to unleash hell upon him, turned and started to flee the alley but didn't get far as dark figures suddenly leapt down and subdued him. This was the last thing Naruto saw as the stress from the day, the fear of what was happening to him and exhaustion from unlocking his chakra for the first time all took their toll. The last thing the watery blond saw before passing out was that his hands seemed to be losing their shape and forming puddles of pure water.

**Scene Break**

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, stood outside of a hospital room door with a gloomy expression on his face. Yesterday evening, one of the Anbu he had placed to guard Naruto came barging into his office with dire news. When he asked what was wrong, the boy's Anbu guards explained that they had been switching shifts for the night and that had created a blind spot for a few minutes, but when the guard finished shifting they saw a shocking sight. A drunk had been attacking their charge and, when they moved to stop him it was to the surprise of all that the victim had suddenly turned part of his body into water, making his attacker's blows harmless. The Anbu had apprehended the man before he could flee the scene and was now in custody, but what was really worrying was what happened next. Naruto, losing consciousness, seemed to lose control over whatever was happening to his body and his entire form became liquid, leaving behind a set of clothes lying in a puddle.

Thinking quickly, one of the members of the guard used a minor Water Jutsu to pick up the puddle that had once been a boy while another used a sealing scroll to place the water in. They'd taken the sealed water-boy to Konoha's hospital in hopes that something could be done and that what happened could be explained. This brings us to the present as Hiruzen stared at a large test tube that contained what had been his grandson figure but was now clear water. The aged Hokage couldn't help but frown at what had been partially responsible for this event; the time it took to switch the guard. That was a serious mistake that Hiruzen planned on correcting, but first he had to deal with more pressing matters such as finding out exactly what happened.

The Third went over multiple ideas on what happened but he was brought out of his musings as a med-nin came up to him. The medic gave the aged leader their report on the liquidized boy. "At first it was thought that the liquid was the remains of a Water Clone, but after extensive research we've found traces of human DNA mixed in with large amounts of chakra in the water. The DNA matches that of one Naruto Uzumaki. There is more, Lord Hokage," at this the medic paused, which worried the Hokage.

"What is it?" Hiruzen asked in all seriousness.

The medic took a deep breath and looked the Professor straight in the eye. "The tests done on both the DNA and chakra show the unleashing of a previously recessive bloodline awakening, most likely brought on by the stress of the attack. But we cannot at this time identify the nature of the bloodline."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, nicknamed The Professor, already had a good idea on the exact nature of the bloodline. If his memory served him correctly, and he sure it did despite his age, he'd only heard of one type of bloodline that changed the user's body into water. The bloodline was that of the Hōzuki clan of the Village Hidden in the Mist, called the Hydrification Technique. He'd personally fought and met several users of the clan during the wars, including the Second Mizukage. The Hydrification Technique, while not one of the more flashy bloodlines out there, was none the less a powerful ability. In addition to allowing the user to turn their body into water, making them virtually both immune to physical damage and natural masters of Water Jutsu, it also allowed them to increase the strength of their limbs by focusing water into that specific area. The only downside was that the user had to constantly keep their bodies hydrated.

The Third quickly grabbed his pipe from his robe and took a deep puff, the smoke help calming his racing mind. He knew that he needed to gain control of this situation and fast! The first thing he'd try to do was to comfort Naruto once he'd gain consciousness and let him know what happened. Hopefully, the old man could calm the boy and tell him in a way that would not upset him further, but also show him the severity of the situation. With any luck it'd allow Naruto to regain his physical form. That led to the next problem: how to get Naruto to control his new bloodline on a more regular basis? Whenever a bloodline is awakened, it's always necessary for the wielder to learn how to use it to avoid hurting themselves and others. It wouldn't work to have Naruto simply ignore the bloodline, because that could lead to severe physical and mental problems such as activating his abilities against his will.

What Hiruzen needed was a teacher for Naruto, but who? Asking the Hidden Mist was unlikely since his sources had reported that they were at the brink of civil war, mostly due to Yagura's, the Fourth Mizukage's, increasingly erratic behavior. And finding users of the Hydrification Technique was rare outside of the Mist Village. The best bet was to find a missing-nin who had the bloodline and convincing them to join the village. But as far as he knew, none of the known missing-nins had the bloodline! So what was he to do? This was a question that pestered Hiruzen through the rest of the day and into the night. When he returned to the office the next day, hoping to hear about improvements on Naruto's condition and hoping both the Anbu and the hospital staff kept their vow of silence on the matter, the old Hokage sat at his desk nursing a building headache. There was then the fluttering of feathers, as the messenger hawk arrived to deliver the daily mail.

The Third looked at the pile of foreign mail and noticed a report from one of his spies in the Hidden Mist among the pile. Deciding he'd see if there was any news that'd help him with the current situation, Hiruzen went over the report. The results weren't good; apparently the Mizukage had decreed all bloodlines in the Land of Water's territories were now outlawed and those possessing bloodlines were either driven out or killed! This report helped the elderly Kage make a final decision.

'There is no helping it, I need to send an agent to the Hidden Mist and try to find a Hōzuki that would be willing to come to the Leaf before they get wiped out. Offering protection and a place to live away from the Bloody Mist should be enough of a motivator to gain their interest. It must be done,' Hiruzen thought resolutely, 'for Naruto's sake as well as for the sake of the Village. The only question that remains is how to track down the clan…?'

"Yo," a lazy voice sounded behind the old man, making the aged Kage smile as he turned to face the new arrival. "Kakashi Hatake reporting that Team 7 has failed the second Genin Exam once more," the one eyed jonin said as he stared at his leader listlessly.

"Ah Kakashi, I'm glad you're here. I've got a special assignment for you," the Third started as he began the younger man's debriefing.

**Scene Skip (Outskirts of the Hidden Mist Village)**

"Hurry Suigetsu! The Hunters are coming!" a teen around the age of fifteen yelled to a child of eight. The boys appeared to be brothers as they had near identical, shoulder length silver hair, purple eyes, and sharp, shark-like teeth.

"I'm runnin' as fast as I can, Mangetsu!" the now named Suigetsu shouted back, hastily gulping down water from one of the water-bottles that were hanging off of his belt. Suddenly, a kunai knife went whistling through the air and went right through the younger brother's head! However, instead of a burst of blood and bone there was a splash of water as the boy gave a yelp of surprise, his head quickly reforming from water.

"Oh great, they found us! Thanks slowpoke," Mangetsu said sarcastically while staring at the younger boy and at the same time keeping his guard up as several people wearing masks that have a red wave on them suddenly appeared in the clearing they were in.

Suigetsu gave his older brother a hand gesture that most eight year olds shouldn't know and bit back, "Hey, shut up! If you hadn't been sleeping in so much, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Whatever," the Second Coming of the Demon grumbled as he took off a large sword draped along his back, "At least I'll give Hiramekarei a workout!"

"Careful!" one of the masked men shouted, "Despite being children, they both are at the same level of the Seven Swordsmen!"

The brothers gave identical sharp smirks as Suigetsu brought out a tanto sheathed at his back while the bandages fell off of Mangetsu's blade. "Don't worry," they said in unison, "It'll all be over soon!"

**Time Skip (15 minutes)**

The duo stood amongst a large pile of bodies, idly wiping their blades of any blood. "That was pretty good, but you need to work on your technique a little more. It took you nearly a minute longer to kill your half then it should have," Mangetsu lectured as he re-wrapped his blade.

Suigetsu was just about to tear his older brother a new one when he suddenly felt a blade pressed against his neck. "Drop your weapon or the brat dies!" one surviving Hunter-nin hissed as he tightened his grip on the katana underneath the boy's head. Judging by his wounds and the blood on him that wasn't his, it showed the man had gotten wounded during the fight but used his dead comrades as camouflage until he found an opportunity to strike.

The older brother was about to ask if the man was stupid, seeing as their bloodlines made direct attacks like that useless, until he noticed the slight spark coming off the blade of the man's katana at random intervals.

'Crap! A Lightning user!' he thought in a panic. That was the only chakra type that could cancel out and cause harm to a Hōzuki, even in their water state. Seeing no alternative, the swordsman slowly lowered his large sword to the ground and stood back up with his arms raised. Before their attacker could do anything else, however, there was a shout by an unknown voice.

"**Lightning Blade!**" the voice said before suddenly, the Hunter's body went rigid and a hand coated in electricity exploded through his chest, killing him instantly. When the man dropped, it showed a tall man standing in the Hunter's place with a large cloak draped over him, hiding his features from view. The figure shook the blood off his hand before looking at the two brothers, who had gotten close together the second the Hunter was killed and took up a defensive position.

The man made a 'come' motion with his one hand and said in a hushed voice, "Other Hunter-nins are coming, we've got to move quickly or they'll be on us in minutes." With that, the figure turned and started to move through the fog. The swordsmen duo looked at each other for a second before they crept after the man, keeping their guards up in the event this was a trap. After nearly a half hour of walking they reached a cave where the man went into. Making sure the entrance wasn't booby trapped; the brothers went in after him. Halfway into the cave they came across the man at a makeshift campsite with a smokeless fire lighting up the cave. As the man sat down, Mangetsu stepped forward.

"Look, not that we're not grateful or somethin', but what's this all about? Who are you and what do you want from us?" the elder brother asked while keeping his hand near the hilt of his sword.

The man lowered the hood of his cloak to show a head of spiky silver hair and a masked face, with a headband that had a leaf symbol on it tilted over the man's left eye. The man seemed to smile at the brothers with his one eye and said in a relaxed tone, "And hello to you too, Mr. Mangetsu and Suigetsu Hōzuki. My name is Kakashi Hatake and in answer to your question, it's not so much what I want but what the Hidden Leaf Village wants. Please tell me, would you be interested in a change in scenery? All it'll cost you is some tutoring lessons."


End file.
